After seeing her in the superb 2010 indie films Please Give and Everything Must Go,I went on Netflix UK to find other movies starring Rebecca Hall. Whilst looking up Hall flicks,I spotted a (non Hall) Neo-Noir on the front page that I remember reading a very good review by Kim Newman a few years ago,which led to me finding out how cold the night could be.

The plot:

Taking care of her daughter Sophia on her own after her husband dies in an accident,Chloe makes ends meet by running a motel. A former girlfriend of police officer Billy,Chloe keeps him informed of all the pimps and gangsters that stay at her cheap place. Getting the cash for their client "transporter" Topo and a relative hide it in their car,and each get a separate room at Chloe's. Meeting a call girl,Topo's relative gets in a row which leaves him shot dead. Finding out the next day that the cops have taken the car as evidence,Topo takes Chloe hostage,and demands that she gets this transporter back on track.

View on the film:

Referencing the title,co-writer/(with Oz Perkins and Nick Simon) director Tze Chun & cinematographer Noah Rosenthal give title a frosty appearance reflecting the cold harsh light of day that the crimes take place in. Cracking open Topo's task with short,sharp shots of violence,Chun peels Chloe's motel walls for a seedy Neo- Noir atmosphere,where the limited room in the place feeds into a cramped feeling.

Keeping Topo as a man of few words,the screenplay by Chun/ Perkins and Simon drills a menacing Noir loner aura into him,as Chloe tries to find common ground with Topo,but discovers his backstory to constantly escape her. Although they melt the ice for an ending that is far too sickly sweet,the writers do very well at layering the Noir anxiety that sits between Chloe and Topo,as Topo's ruthless threats force Chloe into accepting the package of becoming a transporter.

Hiding behind cool shades, Bryan Cranston gives a tense performance as Topo,who is given a tough edge by Cranston of believing that the way of the gun is better than any words. Pulled out of her confined safe space, Alice Eve gives a gripping performance as Chloe,thanks to Eve at first sending Chloe out shivering like a leaf,but slowly turning Chloe into a quick-witted outsider,as coldness enters the night.